MWE3.com Interview with Jon Anderson

Watching Jon Anderson perform his solo act on November 10th, 2013 was a sonic revelation. The concert venue that night was the famous art deco Colony Theatre on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach. Just another steamy night in South Beach, the streets were swarming with a mix of exotic looking, Latin speaking people. In fact, standing in front of the Colony before the concert, I met several Anderson devotees, including media and industry types from South America. So revered is Anderson in those exotic corners of the world, but that’s nothing new. Another bizarre twist that night was the opening act—a pop singer named Fernando Perdomo (pictured right in top hat with Jon)—who delilvered a low key but respectable solo set. The Cuban connection is never far away in Miami Beach.

Flashback—40 years ago, Christmas 1973, Jon Anderson and YES had just released their all time compositional masterpiece Tales From Topographic Oceans. In the following interview with mwe3.com, it was meaningful to hear Jon remember that fabled Winter 1974 Tales tour and especially the historic Madison Square Garden YES concert of February 18, 1974. It was great to tell him what a masterpiece Tales was then…and that it’s still great today.

Much has been written about Jon Anderson leaving YES in 2008. “It’s an honor just to be alive” is something you’d expect Jon to say about that. I’m sure Chris, Alan and Steve miss those days too, but approaching 2014, at 70 years young, Anderson is clearly steering his own musical ship and he’s no less an icon for it.

YES fans still pining for Anderson’s one of a kind voice and vision, can relive some Jon greatness from his days of future passed with a batch of 2013 CD reissues on England’s esteemed Esoteric Records label. Two late 2013 Esoteric remasters include Anderson’s 1994 album Change We Must and Page Of Life, the 1991 and final album by Jon & Vangelis—each featuring new remastering and detailed booklets with photos and historic liner notes. Also on Esoteric Records worth rechecking is a 2011 reissue CD of Anderson’s underrated 1988 album,In The City Of Angels.

As we approach the 40th anniversary of the Tales winter tour of 1974, it’s a spiritual experience to watch Anderson doing what he loves to do in a live setting—retelling tales of yesterday and keeping alive the musical vision of one of rock’s greatest pioneering artists.

{Jon Anderson spoke to mwe3.com on November 7, 2013 about coming to Miami Beach, the state of YES, recent collaborators and much more.}

mwe3: Jon, it’s great to speak to you again. It’s been a really crazy 5 years! Wow, who knew. What do you make of the global economy and all the problems of the world these days?

JON ANDERSON: That’s a big question. Nothing changes, the world is always a constant adventure for everybody. It’s just one of those things. People expect it to be perfect but we don’t live in a perfect world. Eventually we will. But for now there’s a lot of corruption and that entails a lot of the serious malfunction of the human experience. That’s life! We’re growing slowly to understand stuff…and it just takes time.